A survey of Arab youth highlights gaps between policies and aspirations
Results of a recent annual survey
of Arab youth concerns about their future suggest that Arab autocracies have yet to deliver expected public
services and goods,...
Chinese purchases of Iranian oil raise tantalizing questions
A fully loaded Chinese
oil tanker ploughing its way eastwards from two Iranian oil terminals raises questions of how far Beijing is willing to go...
Walking a tightrope: Pakistan struggles to juggle multiple balls
Pakistan risks falling off the tightrope it walks as it attempts to
balance its relations with rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Developments in recent days, including...
Mounting tension with Iran sheds a light on dynamics of US geopolitics
Mounting tension between the Trump administration and
Iran are likely to shed light on US dynamics shaping today’s geopolitical
environment.
Looming large is the figure of US...
Does or doesn’t it work? Sustainability of Chinese re-education may be tested
The effectiveness of China’s effort to brainwash Uyghurs and Central
Asian Muslims in the troubled north-western province of Xinjiang may be tested.
With the recent release...
Tackling hate speech: Tech companies and world leaders opt for band-aid solutions
There’s a ‘blame the messenger’ quality to global efforts to counter
misinformation, extremism and hate speech by world leaders and technology
companies.
The efforts are informed by...
Want to curb violent attacks? Curb civilisationalism
Decades of Saudi global funding of Sunni Muslim
ultra-conservatism is perceived to have created breeding grounds for radicalism
in Muslim communities even if it was largely...
Saudi gas ambitions likely to have geopolitical impact
A Saudi push to become a major natural gas player is as much about
diversifying the kingdom’s domestic consumption and export mix as it is...
Arab power struggles: “The King is dead, long live the King”
Political transition in the Middle East and North Africa operates so far
on the principle of ‘The King is dead, long live the King.’
Libya’s battle...
Sudan puts Saudi-UAE religious and cheque book diplomacy to the test
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ chequebook
diplomacy driven-soft power strategy is being put to the test in Sudan where a
stand-off between protesters and...